As for the English they lost only Captain Coxe’s Ship abovementioned, and not more than one hundred Men.
Such was the End of the formidable Spanish Armada, that had been three Years fitting out at a vast Expence; and which in less than three Months was shamefully beaten, and put to a most ignominious Flight, [[137]]without taking at the same time, in several Engagements, and in many Days Fight, any English Ship or Boat, or making one Prisoner; not having so much as fired a Cottage at Land, or taken a Cock-Boat of ours at Sea, as the Lord Bacon observes[[138]], it wandered through the Wilderness of the Northern Seas; and, according to the Curse in Scripture, Came out against us one way, and fled before us seven ways. Well might the Spaniards marvel at this, and be heartily vexed, as one of their Friends observes they did; [[139]]so as some of them to say in their Anguish of Heart, “That in all these Fights, Christ shewed himself a Lutheran! Surely it is most manifest, as he goes on, That in all this Voiage, from the Armada’s coming out of Lisbon, even to the very last, God shewed no Favour to the Spaniards any one Day, as he did continually to the English.”
For this signal Deliverance, the Thanks of all true Lovers of their Country, and of the Protestant Religion, are due to that Almighty Being, by whose Assistance their Ancestors obtained the Victory; and it ought at the same time, to make them love and reverence the Memory of that wise and excellent Queen, by whose Prudence and good Management they were enabled to conquer.
[[140]]Upon the first News of this wonderful Deliverance and Victory, the Kingdom was filled with Joy, and a Sense of Gratitude to God. The first Notice given of it in publick, was on the 20th of August, when Nowel Dean of St. Paul’s preached at the Cross a Thanksgiving Sermon before the Lord-Mayor, Aldermen, and the Companies in their best Liveries. Again September the 8th being another and chief Thanksgiving Day, the Preacher at St. Paul’s Cross moved the People to give Thanks for their Enemies Overthrow; and at the same time were set upon the lower Battlements of the Church, eleven Ensigns or Banners taken from the Spanish Fleet; one Streamer in particular, on which was represented the Virgin Mary with her Son in her Arms, was held in a Man’s Hand over the Pulpit: These Banners were afterwards carried to the Cross in Cheapside[[141]]; and the next Day, September 9, were hanged on London-Bridge towards Southwark, where the Fair was kept. The 17th of November, being Sunday, was another Rejoicing-Day, as well upon account of the Queen’s Accession to the Throne, as for this Victory. Her Majesty intended to have been at Paul’s Cross, to hear a Sermon preach’d by Dr. Cooper Bishop of Winchester, and Provision had accordingly been made for her Reception; but upon some Occasion or other, her coming was put off ’till the Sunday following: The 19th being Tuesday was a general Thanksgiving-Day throughout the whole Kingdom. The next Sunday, November 24, the Queen, attended by her Privy Council, by the Nobility, and other honourable Persons, as well Spiritual as Temporal, in great number, the French Ambassador, the Judges, the Heralds, and Trumpeters all on Horseback, came in a Chariot supported by four Pillars, and drawn by two white Horses, to St. Paul’s Church; where alighting at the West Door, she fell on her Knees, and audibly praised God for her own and the Nation’s signal Deliverance; and, after a Sermon suitable to the Occasion, preached by Dr. Pierce, Bishop of Sarum, she exhorted the People in a most Royal and Christian manner, to a due Performance of the religious Duty of Thanksgiving; then going to the Bishop of London’s Palace, where she dined, she returned in the same Order as before, by Torch-light, to Somerset-House.
Those brave Men that had ventur’d their Lives in the Defence of their Country, were considered and rewarded by the Queen. [[142]]She settled a Pension on the Lord High-Admiral for his great Service, and bestow’d a handsome yearly Allowance on the poor and disabled Seamen; and upon all Occasions she distinguish’d the rest of the Officers, Soldiers, and Sailors with particular Marks of her Regard and Esteem; but their Rewards consisted generally more in Words than in Deeds.
A short Explanation and Account of what is contained in each of the ten Tapestry-Plates, and the ten Charts.
The [first Plate] of the Tapestry and [Chart I]. represent the Spanish Fleet coming up the Channel, opposite to the Lizard, as it was first discovered. See Account of the Spanish Invasion, p. 12, 13.
[Plate II]. and [Chart II]. The Spanish Fleet against Fowey, drawn up in the Form of a Half Moon, and the English Fleet pursuing them. Account, &c. p. 13.
[Plate III]. and [Chart III]. At the left Hand Corner is represented the first Engagement between the Spanish and English Fleets: After which the English give Chace to the Spaniards, who draw themselves up into a Roundel. Account, &c. ibid.